In recent years, a number of new telephone service features have been provided by an Advanced Intelligent Network (AIN). The AIN evolved out of a need to increase the capabilities of the telephone network architecture in order to meet the growing needs of telephone customers or users. The AIN architecture generally comprises two networks, a data messaging network and a circuit-switched, trunked communications network. The trunked communications network handles voice and data communications between dispersed network locations, whereas the data messaging network is provided for controlling operations of the trunked communications network.
A privacy screening service is a service that enables a subscriber to screen incoming calls. The privacy screening service provides information to the called party (in this case, the subscriber to the privacy screening service) that allows the subscriber to make an informed decision as to whether or not to answer a call. For example, a subscriber may (and typically does) use the privacy screening service to block all unidentified calls from going through Private telephone numbers are telephone numbers that block services such as “caller ID” that would otherwise identify the caller to the called party. In telephone systems that offer private numbers and a privacy screening service to its customers, a call from a private number to a subscriber with the privacy screening service cannot be completed automatically, unless the caller authorizes the system to override the privacy of his number. When subscribing the to the many privacy services, participating customers are often not aware (and more importantly not made aware by the telecommunications service provider) of related and/or complimentary services to one or more of the sought after services. For example, a telecommunications service provider, in some instances, will offer complimentary services in an unbundled manner such that a “private” number and caller identification blocking are separate and distinct services. However, a subscribing customer who requests a private number is often under the impression that they also are provided with the caller identification blocking service, when in reality they are required by the exemplary telecommunications services provider to subscribe to the separate and distinct services. As such, there exists a very likely possibility that a customer wanting both a “private” number and caller identification blocking will only receive a “private” number.
Currently, telecommunication service providers employ customer care and billing computing applications to assist them in customer relationship management. These applications, inter alia, manage and communicate customer data, operations data, and service option data among the various participating entities of a telecommunications services company. Customer service representatives employ such applications when interacting with customers to obtain and input required data to activate requested services, update customer information, track service requests, or other telecommunication services operations.
However, currently used customer care and billing computing applications (e.g. customer relationship management (CRM) protocol) do not prompt customer services representatives to offer information to requesting customers of related services. Moreover, currently employed (CRM) protocols are not designed or operate such that the customer service representative cannot proceed within the customer care and billing system unless relevant and/or complimentary services to a requested service are offered to the customer. Stated differently, currently employed CRM protocols do not force customer service representatives to provide information to customers seeking a particular service about relevant and/or complimentary services.
From the foregoing it is appreciated that there exits a need for system and methods that provide a customer relationship management (CRM) protocol that ensures that telecommunications service providers engage in significant knowledge sharing when subscribing customers to a private number service such that complimentary and/or related services are discussed and waived by subscribing customers. The system and methods described herein overcome the shortcomings of the prior art.